


Untitled

by maebyrutherford (maeberutherford)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Battle, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 20:06:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3542210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeberutherford/pseuds/maebyrutherford
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen needs to tap into his Templar abilities to save the Inquisitor. Will he succeed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Untitled

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: this is very depressing and angsty! I just had this idea knocking around and couldn't shake it. I was very loose with the lore.

Cullen drove his sword through the Red Templar’s neck, planted his foot on its hip and kicked forward to free his blade. He looked around to see his soldiers slaying the last of their enemies as they slumped to the ground one by one, grunting and bellowing like the monsters they were, red on their armor and in their blood. Out of the dying din of battle he heard a familiar voice.

“Commander! You must follow me, immediately! There is no time to waste! It’s Ingrid!”

Cassandra had used her name instead of her title – Maker, no. “What do you mean? Is she…”

“She is alive, but badly injured. Both Dorian and Vivienne have fallen. Sera is with her now, but we have no mages left to dispel this thing’s magic!”

“Calm down,” he gripped her arms. She was unsteady and frantic, a state he had never seen her in. Her face was battered, her armor damaged. He suppressed his alarm like a good soldier – it would do no good to panic now, they must focus.

“Inquisition soldiers, let’s move out, be ready to engage!” he bellowed at his men. “Seeker, lead the way, and quickly, tell me everything!”

“We were fighting at the fore, headed back to meet you, and out of nowhere a strange creature appeared. Some sort of mage, it caught us from behind, an ambush” she paused quickly to catch her breath, “Such powerful spells; nothing like I have ever seen. It focused on the mages; Dorian…he was the first to fall, then Vivienne. It must have known they were weak from battle. Ingrid was hit hard, but she managed to put up a barrier around herself and Sera that won’t last much longer, I’m afraid. I tried using my abilities but they did nothing. I had to retrieve you. You’re the only one who can possibly stop it. We were not prepared for this!”

Dorian and Vivienne, both powerful mages, were gone? He could scarcely believe it. There was nothing anyone could have done at that point to stop Cullen from running head first into that battle to save Ingrid, but he wondered why Cassandra had thought him to be their only salvation. He didn’t have to wonder much longer.

“Commander,” she had regained her steely warrior persona, “you must use your Templar abilities. Can you still tap into them, without the lyrium?”

He absorbed her words as they trotted on, looking deep within himself to find the answer. Yes, it was there - he still felt the presence of his connection to the fade. It may have been dormant, but he was confident he could awaken it to save the woman he loved, and Thedas’ only hope.

“Yes, I can try. It has been a long time, but I – “

“You must not fail, or else she will be lost. This thing will not stop. I only survived because of my guard. Your soldiers and I can distract it long enough for you to disrupt its magic, and then we can move in for the kill. It is crucial that she survives, for the good of the Inquisition.”

Cullen wanted to protest, to tell Cassandra that they all needed to survive, but he knew she spoke the truth. Ingrid was their only hope of closing the rifts and stopping Corypheus. He would gladly give his life for hers, and he knew Cassandra would do the same.

“There it is! Be ready!” she cried out.

He felt its magic before he saw the thing – it wasn’t much larger than a man, but it was deformed, bent, wearing a large hooded cloak and firing spell after spell at two figures surrounded by a weakening magical shield – Sera and Ingrid. She looked to be in pain and was straining to keep her magic going, but she was alive, thank the Maker. Sera was bloody and beaten and it appeared she had run out of arrows. Cullen had never in his life felt such malicious and powerful magic. He wasn’t even close yet and it was vibrating his very soul. What was this thing? Where had it come from?

He had no time for such thoughts now. “Soldiers! You will follow the Seeker. Give that thing everything you’ve got. Draw it away from the Inquisitor. Now forward! For the Inquisition!”

The soldiers gave a shout in unison and charged toward the creature, shields up and swords at the ready. Cassandra grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Cullen, I have faith that you can do this. You must.” And with that, she ran off with the soldiers.

As he rushed toward the fray, he took a deep breath and thought back to his time in Kirkwall, and to all of the times he’d have to stop some maleficar or terrified apostate they had cornered. He remembered how it felt to channel that skill, that ability to cut through their connection to the fade, the source of their magical power. Cullen looked at Ingrid as he marched closer. She looked to be in a lot of pain, struggling to keep the shield active, and she met his gaze with a stricken look. He thought about how the woman he loved more than he ever thought possible, the woman that somehow against all of his instincts returned his love, was going to die if he could not stop this mage. He would never again see her smile, or feel her touch, or see her lying next to him in the morning sunlight, or feel her body against him, or hear her laugh, ever again. Cullen saw the bodies of Dorian and Vivienne, broken and bloody and tossed aside like rag dolls. Powerful emotions began to overcome him, and he felt an energy he did not recognize surging inside him as he approached the enemy.

“Cullen! What are you doing?!” Ingrid shouted, muffled by the shield. It was flickering now and wouldn’t hold much longer. She must have felt him accessing his abilities. The well of power within him grew stronger at the sound of her terrified voice.

He turned to the mage as it took down his soldiers one by one, momentarily distracted as planned. Cassandra still stood, for the moment, dodging its attacks. “Commander, NOW!!” she screamed as she slammed it with her shield.

Cullen took a fighting stance and closed his eyes, focusing all of his energy inward and recalling his training. Suddenly the world before him fell away, everything went white, and he could feel all of the spells being cast around him – electricity, fire, ice, spirit, protection, healing – all of it was absorbed into his being. He reached as far as he could, found the tendrils where they were connected to the fade, and shattered each and every one. Cullen tried to pull back then, but he couldn’t stop. Every bit of mana that remained around him was destroyed, stripped, obliterated until there was nothing left. He had never felt this powerful before when he was taking lyrium, and somewhere in his subconscious it frightened him. Templars were never supposed to go this far.

Something or someone was pulling him back. He felt a tingling sensation on his face, and then it became much sharper, his vision returning. He realized that someone was slapping him - hard.

“Cullen! Stop! Stop it! It’s dead! Come back!” Cassandra, was she weeping?

He grabbed her hand before she could hit him again, then he stumbled into her arms from exhaustion. “I’m here, I’m alright.” It was very quiet, how much time had passed? “Did it work? Is it dead?”

“Yes, we were able to kill it.” Her face was anguished, tears streaming down her face. “But, oh Andraste preserve me, Cullen….” She looked over to where Ingrid had been standing.

The shield was gone. Her figure was limp on the ground, not moving. Sera was holding her head in her lap and sobbing, stroking her hair, rocking back and forth.

Cullen’s entire body went numb, his mind blank. Instinctively his legs moved him toward Ingrid. No, please no, it cannot be.

Sera’s head snapped up at his approach, her face turning into fury. Gently setting Ingrid’s head down, she ran up to Cullen, punching him square in the chest. “It’s YOUR fault she’s DEAD! YOU did this! You couldn’t bloody control your STUPID ability, could you? Could you? Fucking Templars! You’re such shite!” She hit him a few more times, Cullen too stunned to respond. Her face crumpled, anger falling away, and she ran off.

This was his doing. He had killed her. He had tried to save her, only to suck her life force dry. Mages couldn’t let their mana deplete completely and so rapidly or else they could die, especially if they were healing themselves.

He fell to his knees beside her with the face of a truly broken man. Even in death, she was beautiful. Any pain he had seen in her eyes moments ago was gone; she looked peaceful, as if she was sleeping. Cullen looked her up and down in despair, clutching his hair, a low strained noise coming from his throat. He was afraid to touch her, to make it real.

Cassandra spoke softly, her voice choked with emotion. “Cullen…words cannot express how sorry I am. I…I should have realized you may not be able to control it. I hope someday you may forgive me.”

There wasn’t anything more to say, even if he could have formed words at that moment. There were no thoughts in his mind except _She’s gone, and I am the one who took her life_. He finally worked up the courage to lift her up and cradle her in his arms. She was so cold, oh Maker, so cold, the arms that once held him falling limply to the side. He kissed her gently on the lips and pulled her into his chest, the tears coming freely now. As long as he lived he would never forgive himself for what he had done, mistake or not. Ingrid deserved much better, and he had never deserved her. He should be lying cold on the ground, not she, not his Ingrid.

After some time had passed, he gently set her body down, giving her one last kiss on her forehead. Without a word, he walked past Cassandra and the bodies of his fallen comrades and soldiers into the wilderness, stripping off pieces of his armor as he went and letting them fall where they may. He didn’t look back.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment, let me know your thoughts!


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